Berlin CSD is excited to welcome new and familiar faces to the BCSD staff. Please welcome Ms. Sydney Mello, Ms. Lora Dunlop, Ms. Casey Ballard, Ms. Shelby Heath, Ms. Keana Heim, Ms. Kayla Vasilatos, Ms. Aubrey Mahar, Ms. Laura Witbeck, Ms. Stephanie Kneer, Mr. Michael Foster, Ms. Laura Masterson, Ms. Christina Bauer, Ms. Taylor Meyer, Ms. Steevi Savaria, and Ms. Christine Walsh to their new positions at BCSD. Learn more about our new BCSD staff in their own words below.
Sydney Mello
Berlin High School
School Within a School (SWS)
What is your new position at Berlin High School?
I teach High School ELA to all grades in the School Within a School Program.
What is your education background?
I went to Bard College for my BA where I studied Medieval Art History and for my MAT where I focused on secondary literature education.
What is your background like – previous jobs?
I was a student teacher at Woodstock Day School where I taught 6-8 ELA and at Red Hook High School where I taught 11-12 IB, AP, and elective literature classes. This summer, I was a reading teacher at the Institute for Reading Development where I taught K-6 and helped them learn to love reading!
Tell us about your family.
Right now, I live with my mom and my very old, very little dog. My mom is a dedicated and hard working single mother and one of my best friends and greatest inspirations. My dog is a loveable curmudgeon.
What are your interests outside of school?
I love to read (of course), knit, bake, hike, and go to museums when I get the chance!
Lora Dunlop
Berlin Middle High School
Food Service Worker
What is your new position in the district?
I am a Food Service Worker at the Berlin Middle High School.
What is your education background?
I graduated from Tamarac High School in 2002.
What is your background like – previous jobs?
I worked at Tamarac HS from 2013-2019 where I worked in Food Service. I started washing dishes, serving and cashier until I became the cook there for the MS/HS. I also worked as morning care/after care and maintenance during the summer.
Tell us about your family?
My husband’s name is Kyle. I have 4 kids- Leah (18) Hunter (16) Sophia (5) and Mason (4). We also have a cat named Pepper.
What are your interests outside of school?
When I’m not working or helping take care of the family I enjoy crafting, cooking/baking and fishing.
Casey Ballard
Berlin Elementary School
1st Grade Special Education Teacher
I was raised in Berlin and I’m thrilled to be back here teaching. I am the new 1st grade special education teacher. I attended a small liberal arts college out by Buffalo NY (Go Bills!) and studied Inclusive Childhood Education. I then got my Masters of Education in Trauma and Resiliency. This is my fifth year teaching special education, although most of my career has been in Vermont. My husband and I live right in Berlin with our adorable cat, Lucky. My parents and four grandparents also all live in Berlin and I enjoy spending time with them. When I’m not teaching you can find me baking, reading, or watching football.
Shelby Heath
Berlin Elementary School
Pre-K Teacher
What is your new position at BCSD?
I am a Pre-Kindergarten teacher at BES.
What is your education background?
I have my Bachelor’s in Elementary Education and Interdisciplinary Studies and a Master’s in Special Education.
What is your background like – previous jobs?
I started teaching right out of school. In 2017, I worked as a Special Education teacher for preschool age students at the Berlin Barn. Last year I was a first grade special education teacher in Rensselaer. This year I could not be more excited to be at Berlin Elementary School!
Tell us about your family.
My husband Spencer and I have been married for 5 years. This past February, we welcomed our daughter Sofie into the world. I also have a dog, Everly.
What are your interests outside of school?
I love spending time with my family. I also enjoy spending time outdoors doing activities like camping, boating, and hiking.
Keana Heim
Berlin Middle High School
Building Substitute
What is your role/position in the district?
I am a building substitute in the district. I work in the middle and high school.
What is your education background?
I have an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts from SUNY Canton and a Bachelor’s degree from SUNY Potsdam (Go Bears). I am also a certified teacher with a focus in English in grades 7-12 with a 5-6 extension. I will be enrolling in Grad school shortly to get my Master’s degree.
What is your background like – previous jobs?
My background has been primarily in retail services. I have worked at numerous stores in many different positions including assistant manager and shift supervisor.
Tell us about your family?
I have three siblings, whom I am so proud of. I am the second oldest, I have an older brother, younger sister, and a younger brother. My mom is my best friend. My dad is who got me into cars when I was younger. I also have six pets, three dogs and three cats, two of the cats and one dog were rescued.
What are your interests outside of school?
Some of my interests are hanging out with my friends and family, fishing and cars. I am an avid car enthusiast with an extensive HotWheels collection. I have also recently started building Legos.
Kayla Vasilatos
Berlin Elementary School
Teaching Assistant
I am a TA in second grade at Berlin Elementary.
I graduated from Berlin and graduated from HVCC with a degree in Health Information Technology. I worked in the medical field for over 9 years. I am a mom of two boys. I love spending time with my family. I love going to park with my boys. I love having cookouts with my whole family. I love going to the beach, especially in Maine.
Aubrey Mahar
Berlin Elementary
Math Specialist and the Building Substitute
Laura Witbeck
Berlin Elementary School
K-5 Reading Specialist
What is your new position at BCSD?
I am excited to be starting my new role as a K-5 Reading Specialist at Berlin Elementary School.
What is your education background?
I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Childhood Education from SUNY Oneonta and my Master’s Degree in Literacy from the University at Albany. This is my 13th year of teaching for the Berlin Central School District! I taught fifth grade for 9 years and first grade for 3 years. My love of reading and helping students find confidence and joy in reading is what has brought me to this new opportunity!
Tell us about your family?
My husband is also a teacher and we have been married for 11 years! We have two amazing kids – Anna is in Kindergarten and Logan is in 2nd grade. Life is busy and fun and we are enjoying the ride!
What are your interests outside of school?
Outside of school I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. You can often find me watching my children’s sporting events whether its baseball, soccer, or hockey. I love strong coffee, early morning runs, and finding peace and quiet to read a good book!
Stephanie Kneer
Berlin Elementary School
Second Grade Teacher
What is your new position at BES?
Second Grade Teacher
What is your education background?
Bachelor in Elementary Education from Houghton College and Masters in Reading from SUNY Albany.
What is your background like – previous jobs?
I graduated from Berlin High School in 1988. (My current classroom was my 9th grade science room) I came back to work in the district as a first grade teacher at Stephentown Elementary from 1993 to 1998. I was a stay at home mom for about 10 years before beginning substitute teaching at Tamarac and Berlin elementary schools. Eleven years ago I was hired back to this district and have taught second grade, math intervention K-5, fourth grade, and co-taught third grade.
Tell us about your family?
I have been married for 28 years and my husband and I have 3 kids in their 20’s. We also have 2 golden retrievers.
What are your interests outside of school?
My family, friends, Adirondacks on the lake and hiking on trails, visiting the ocean.
Michael Foster
Berlin Middle High School
Building Substitute
What is your position at BMHS?
Building Substitute
What is your education background?
I graduated from Stetson University with a degree in Sports Administration. I was a member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.
What is your background like – previous jobs?
I have worked in several industries before entering the education field nearly 25 years ago. The predominance of my education career has been in independent boarding schools as a teacher, coach and senior administrator.
Tell us about your family?
I have been married to my wife Sonya for 33 years and we have three grown children.
What are your interests outside of school?
Outside of school I love to play golf, take care of my garden, and spend time with family and my best friend Astro!
Laura Masterson
Berlin Elementary School
Building Substitute
Hello my name is Laura Masterson I am the new Building Substitute at BES. Five year old, I wanted to be a teacher and I worked very hard to make that dream come true. I hold several degrees in Education including Special Education, Elementary Education, Early Childhood Education and Literacy, not necessarily in that order. Since the 90’s I have worked with children ages 0-12 at different educational settings, public and private. Most recently I was the infant/ toddler teacher in an Early Head Start program in downtown Albany. I had the privilege of working with each family in my class for 3 years before I received a new group of students. I have a very deep understanding of what it means to work collaboratively with parents because of the length of time I spent getting to know them and their child.
I am a wife and the proud mother of four adult children so I know the daily struggles you may be facing from time to time. I can’t say that it ever gets easier but I can say the good moments outweigh the struggles and sometimes even those sometimes become treasured family stories that cause everyone to reminisce and laugh. I also have three cats that all have their flaws that cause me to love them even more, no one is perfect after all.
My family and I enjoy swimming at the lake, camping, music concerts, riding roller coasters and celebrating birthdays. We have a great tradition of Birthday Breakfast where the birthday person gets to choose what they would like made for breakfast and we all get up a little earlier to eat breakfast together as a family before everyone heads out for the day, yes most of my children still live at home and I love it that way. I also volunteer at Capital Repertory Theater in Albany. It’s something I do for just me.
I am excited about being here in Berlin Central Schools and look forward to what this school year has to offer. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you! Say hello if you see me in the halls.
Christina Bauer
Berlin Middle High School
English Teacher
What is your new position at Berlin High School?
I will be teaching 8th grade ELA this year.
What is your background like – previous jobs?
For the past six years, I have taught in the School Within A School program.
Tell us about your family?
I live with my husband and two sons, a one-year-old and a four-year-old. We also have two cats and three fish!
What are your interests outside of school?
I enjoy hiking, reading, working on my house, and trainspotting with my sons.
Taylor Meyer
Berlin Elementary School
4th Grade Teacher
What is your new position at Berlin Elementary School?
I am the new 4th Grade teacher at BES! After being in a mathematics teaching position, I am ready to teach and learn with students in reading, writing, social studies, science, and of course math. I am so excited to be in this new position and to see familiar and new faces in the classroom!
What is your education background?
I was raised in the Berlin School District and graduated from Berlin High School in 2017. I always knew that I wanted a career as a teacher. I attended SUNY Oneonta to earn a dual teaching certification in early childhood and childhood education in 2020. Most recently, I graduated from SUNY Oneonta’s Masters in Literacy Education program this past May!
What is your background like – previous jobs?
Although my teaching career is fairly new, I have a long history of working with children. As a teenager, I worked as a counselor at the Stephentown Summer Camp, and later as Assistant Director. I have also taught 1st grade at Berlin Elementary’s Summer Academy and have tutored students in the district. My first teaching position was as Belin Elementary’s Math Interventionist for two years and now I have moved into 4th grade. I love the Berlin community and students, I am so excited to continue my teaching career here!
Tell us about your family?
I am very close with my family, my mom and sister graduated from Berlin as well. My dad and his parents worked and owned a dairy farm in Chatham, NY, I visit them often. My favorite family members are my fur babies! I have two labs, Honey (2 years old) and Dixie (4 months old). They are always ready to play outside or cuddle on the couch with a book (although they would rather play than lie down).
What are your interests outside of school?
Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my dogs outside. We love to swim, hike, walk, play fetch, and soak up the sun. When I’m not with my dogs, I am either reading, baking, painting, gardening, or antiquing (especially for Carnival Glass). I also helped to run an exhibit at the Columbia County Fair. For the past two years we have done cider making, and this year I entered some vegetables from my garden to be judged!
Steevi Savaria
Berlin Elementary School
Kindergarten Special Education
What is your new position at Berlin Elementary School?
I’m so excited to be working as a Kindergarten Special Ed teacher this school year. I started my teaching career as a preschool teacher, so I’m looking forward to being able to return to early learning!
What is your education background?
I have my Masters in Special Education/ General Education B-2 and 1-6.
What is your background like – previous jobs?
I started working for Berlin School District last year as a special education teacher with the wonderful 5th grade team! Before coming to Berlin, I worked for several years as a preschool special education teacher.
Tell us about your family?
I live in Grafton with my husband, 3 children, and many pets!
What are your interests outside of school?
I love spending time outdoors, hiking, and kayaking.
Christine Walsh
Berlin Elementary School
5th Grade Teacher
What is your new position at Berlin Elementary School?
My position has changed this year to a 5th Grade homeroom teacher. I will be teaching science to all three homerooms of 5th grade and Social Studies to my homeroom.
What is your education background?
My undergraduate work was completed at SUNY Cortland and my graduate work was completed at the University of Virginia.
What is your background like – previous jobs?
I’ve taught in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and here in New York. During the past 32 years, I’ve taught grades: kindergarten-9th grade science, some years I’ve taught health, math and/or social studies. I also taught an introductory math class at a community college when I lived in North Carolina.
Tell us about your family?
My husband is a paramedic and an instructor for EMTs and paramedics. Our daughter attends Lehigh University and is studying Aerospace engineering and Earth sciences.
What are your interests outside of school?
I enjoy reading, working in my gardens, walking, kayaking and vacationing at the beach.